barnes



(No Model.)

J. H. BARNES. Harbor Ballast for Ships.

No. 232,435. Patented Sept. 21, I880.

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.! UHN HBARNEE Attamey.

UNITED STATES PATENT JOHN H. BARNES, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR OFONE-HALF OF HIS RIGHT TO DOMENIOO GATTO, OF SAME PLACE.

HARBOR-BALLAST FOR SHIPS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 232,435, datedSeptember 21, 1880.

Application filed July 27, 1880.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN H. BARNES, of Baltimore city, State ofMaryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inHarbor-Ballast for Ships; and I hereby declare the same to be fully,clearly, and exactly described as follows, reference being bad to theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a central longitudinalsectional view of a ballast-vessel embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is atransverse sectional view of the same, and Fig. 3 is an end elevation ofthe device.

My invention relates to what are technically 1 known a-SFbaIlast-logs,designed to be fastened alongside of ships in port in order to preventthem from careening after or pending the discharge of the cargo. Devicesof this class become, in nearly every casein which a shipis emptied, inpreparing to take on aheavy cargo, such, as railroad-iron or ores, anabsolute necessity, as ships can rarely, and those hailing from Italianor other Mediterranean ports never, be relied upon to float upright whenempty. These devices have heretofore consisted of heavy logs or emptycasks, which were fastened alongside, and prevented the ship fromlisting, respectively, by their weight or buoyancy. Both wereobjectionable, however, by reason of the fact that a log or cask wasneeded on each side of the ship, as the log will not prevent the shipfrom careening toward it nor the cask away from it and as the ship isnearly always alongside of a wharf or pier to receive cargo, thepresence of the log or cask between the ships side and the wharf wasundesirable, both by reason of the necessity for a long gang-plank, andbecause of the.

danger of injury to the log and the certainty of crushing the cask. Ithas been proposed, in order to overcome this diffieulty, to constructthe logs of two materials, a heavy wood base of teak being bolted to acork or other light superstructure; but such a log would be so expensiveand difficnlt to tow from place to place as to outweigh any advantagearising from its peculiar construction.

My present invention is an embodiment of the advantages of all theabove-described devices, while avoiding the disadvantages of each 5 (Nomodel.)

and it consists in a ballast-vessel constructed and operating ashereinafter set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, A is the vessel, consisting of two parts,A A. The normally upper one, A, is divided into a numher of compartmentsby bulk-heads a, and each compartment is provided with a coveredman-hole, a, to gain access to the interior for calking, thecompartments being made airtight. The lower part, A, issomcwhatsmallerin cross-section than the upper one, as shown,

the design being that its weight when filled with water, in addition tothe weight of the upper part, shall just equal the buoyant effort of theentire device when submerged. The part A has holes-near the base ateither end, fitted with plugs O, and has also one or more out--wardly-opening doors, B, hinged to the outside at b. Oounterpoises cnormally hold these doors close to their seats. Instead of the doors,the part A may have a number of permanent openings close to .the centralpartition but the described construction is preferred for a reason thatwill be presently evident.

In operation the part A is filled with water and the plugs O and doors Bare seated close. The device is then made fast to the ship by means ofchains or ropes D D, led respectively on deck and under the keel and upthe other side of the ship. As the ship settles in the water while thecargo is being taken in, the chain D! is paid out and the slack of thechain D istaken up. When the ship is sufficiently laden to stand alone afall is made fast to the bight of the lowerchain, D, which being hovein, the entire ballast-vessel is capsized and the doors B automaticallyopen and discharge the water. The device then floats lightly, as shownin Fig. 3 of the drawings, and may be readily towed away with a skiff.When it is desired to use it again the plugs O are removed, the vesselis capsized and allowed to fill.

A scuttle, c, is made in the lower part, A, immediately beneath the manhole in 5 the upper part, as shown. The object of this construction isto admit of the device being used as a fresh-water tank to supply ships.In this case a hose is lowered over the side of the I ship into thelower tank, and its contents are then pumped into the ships casks. Thenit is not designed to use the ballast-vessel as a fresh-Water tank, ashereinbefore indicated, a number of permanently open holes close upunder the central partition may be substituted for the doors B.

The advantages of the device over others heretofore used for the samepurpose are evident. It may be cheaply constructed, is light and easilytowed about, and it answers the end both of the log and cask, the shipbeing efficiently ballasted from one side only.

The object of making the air chamber broader than the Water-tank is tocause the device to float upright when capsized and pending thedischarge of the Water.

What I claim is-- 1. A ballast-vessel consisting of a lower water-tankand an upper air-compartment, having chains or ropes for securing it inposition at a ships side, as set forth.

2. Aballast-vessel consisting of a lower water-tank and an upperair-compartment, having suitable securing chains or ropes, as described,the device bcing adapted, upon being inverted, to discharge the contentsof the Water-tank, as set forth.

3. The ballast-vessel described, consisting of the Water and airchambers, rectangularin cross-section, and of such relative size thatthe buoyantctt'ort of the device when submerged shall substantiallyequal its Weight, as and for the purpose set forth.

4. The ballast-vessel described, consisting of an air-tight air-ch amberand a water-tank having valved openings that discharge its contents asthe vessel is inverted, and chains or ropes for securing the devicealongside a ship, as set forth.

JOHN H. BARNES.

Witnesses R. D. WILLIAMS, J OHN G. GETTINGER.

